Pet Peeve of the Day

This pet peeve of mine has just been driving me nuts even more lately because I have been using cash to pay for all my Christmas gifts. I can't stand it when cashiers hand me back my change and my receipt all in one big handful without counting it back. It's even worse when they don't tell me how much change they think they are giving me and then immediately move on to the next customer. I know they are in a hurry and probably being timed by management, but I'm still standing there trying to count my change to make sure they gave me the right amount. Then I'm putting it in my wallet. Then, if I'm at a place like the grocery store or Target, I'm gathering up my bags while dodging the next customer's merchandise coming down the conveyor belt. In a way I understand those Visa commercials that show the happy symphony of customers sliding their credit cards through the machines and then someone paying cash holding up the line. But in the grand scheme of things I made more money for the store by paying them in cash than if I had used a debit or credit card because they didn't have to pay merchant fees. They also didn't have to wait for payment from a bank or worry about a check bouncing. So why do I feel like I'm treated with less respect because I paid with cash?

Was the shopping trip a bust?

I went to Michael's with a 40% off coupon to get an American Girl book for Rebecca with the money my grandmother sent. Rebecca had almost $6 left in her envelope and that was just enough to pay for the book with the coupon. Michael's coupons aren't valid for books. It's in the fine print but I missed it. So no book for Rebecca. I went to Target to get bathrobes for each of the girls for Christmas. They only had extra small so I decided to wait until next week and try another Target store. Or maybe the website. So no bathrobes for the girls. At this point I'm empty handed and have spent about an hour out, including dealing with traffic. Then I decided to check out the shoe section at Target since I still had about $10 left for myself form the money my grandmother sent. I found a really cute pair of shoes that was on 50% off clearance for only $9.98. Of course I bought them. Now the question...can I consider a shopping trip that was intended to be for Christmas gifts for the girls a bust if all I came home with was a pair of shoes for myself?? I think not.

New discoveries I made this week

I know...I'm usually behind the times with most things. But I learned this week that Target brand milk and yogurt comes from cows that are not treated with rBST. What is that, you ask? It's a growth hormone that is often given to cows. I don't care why farmers use it. I don't care that the FDA has declared milk with it to be safe. I don't want it in my milk. I would prefer to buy raw milk for my family but that's outside the range of my budget right now.

I also learned that Target brand yogurt does not have high fructose corn syrup in it. I had been buying Kroger and Dannon brands because everything else seemed to have HFCS in it. I'm glad to have another reasonably priced option. Also, Target brand has plastic lids that will snap back on when my child says halfway through the carton "I'm full."

The last thing I learned today is that Citibank will create a Virtual Account Number for me to use online. That way I don't have to give out my real account number and worry about it being stolen. How cool is that? The virtual number they gave me today expires next month; I think that it's actually only good for one use but I'll have to double check that. Now I need to see if my credit union can do that, too, so I can use it with my debit card.